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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 23, 2024 17:12:06 GMT -5
Zanetello finally in the lineup for Salem. Leading off and DH'ing. If I had to take blame for jinxing Casas into an injury, I'm taking credit for this one too!
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 23, 2024 17:11:22 GMT -5
Thanks for doing the legwork on this. I had that exact same question. So it's *possible* that Kavadas wouldn't be terrible. But still, what's his ceiling? A barely adequate hitter who can only play 1B, and not even particularly well? (Not directed at you, in particular, ajs.) Barely adequate hitter? doesnt he have like a 1300+ OPS right now? The reason not to call him up would be that he hits a ton, but will will he be able to manage the K's against major league pitching. He has a 1.089 OPS.... in AAA.... in 52 PA's....
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 23, 2024 15:16:42 GMT -5
If your argument is to play him because he's hot but "hot" involves a 30+% K%, then I am more or less out on that idea. If he were already on the 40 man roster, then sure. But if you're going to do some reconfiguration of the 40 man anyway, you might as well pursue an option that has some sort of major league track record. I understand but he's an internal option that is worth a look right now until Casas comes back. I understand where you're coming from but why get someone from outside the organization for just a few weeks. He can also build some trade value at the very least but it would probably help him to come up with and play with the big boys and get a taste. He did win minor league player of the year for us so he's got the potential. I would rather see him then Dalbec or Reyes at 1st right now which was my main point. I think if you get the right external option there’s no guarantee he’s just a stopgap. I think Garrett Cooper makes a ton of sense as a rest of season option as a RHH platoon to Casas who can also probably slide in left in certain situations against lefties. But even if it is a short term option either one is going to be here for a few weeks so you should maximize your window now as this team is good enough to at least compete. If you put Kavadas on the 40 man you’ve potentially got Dalbec 2.0, the cost of cutting a guy off the 40 is way higher than the cost of never putting him on to begin with.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 23, 2024 15:03:49 GMT -5
Manifesting Craig’s Cub connections playing a role here
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 23, 2024 14:58:46 GMT -5
Niko is hot. He strikes out a lot but he's also walking and hitting doubles and Home runs which is why his on base percentage is so high. His numbers this year are very good yes only 15 games but we need a 1st baseman right now and instead of Bobby who no longer deserves a look at this point why not put Niko in there. If your argument is to play him because he's hot but "hot" involves a 30+% K%, then I am more or less out on that idea. If he were already on the 40 man roster, then sure. But if you're going to do some reconfiguration of the 40 man anyway, you might as well pursue an option that has some sort of major league track record.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 23, 2024 10:33:37 GMT -5
Has there been a recent update on Zanatello?
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 23, 2024 7:56:59 GMT -5
Refsnyder is absolutely useless against RHP though. I like him, but he really can't be playing 1B every day. 254 wRC+ so far against them this year In 2023 he had a 31 wRC+ against RHP over 98 PA. In 2022 he had a 124 wRC+ against RHP over 104 PA. So far Dalbec has a -16 wRC+ against RHP and Reyes has a a -8 wRC+ against RHP... For now I'll take my chances to see which version of Refsnyder shows up this year. If Casas misses major time, maybe you look at acquiring someone, but Refsnyder is the best healthy 1B on the roster against LHP and RHP. Dang, based on my limited understanding of exactly how wRC+ worked I did not know it was possible to go in the negative lol
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 22, 2024 20:18:22 GMT -5
Counterpoint: Pablo Reyes Counter-counterpoint: Rob Refsnyder. Reyes shouldn't be playing 1B so long as Refsnyder and Dalbec are on the roster. Height is important at 1B.
I don’t disagree, but all signs point to that not being in the cards.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 22, 2024 15:51:45 GMT -5
Brandon Belt K%: 2019: 20.6% 2020: 20.1% 2021: 27.0% 2022: 27.2% 2023: 34.9% His walk rate is great (career 12.4%, 15.1% last year) and his xwOBA is above average, but that K rate is pretty scary for a guy who is now 36 and will have to ramp up. Counterpoint: Pablo Reyes
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 22, 2024 15:38:04 GMT -5
Can MILB make the weekly off day Tue instead of Mon since MLB off days rarely occur on Tuesdays My initial instinct as to why this isn't feasible is that the off days being synced up makes call-up logistics a lot easier.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 22, 2024 15:36:27 GMT -5
Seaver King. Easy pop. Strong, athletic, and versatile with an up the middle profile. Not sure I'd take Honeycutt, with King still on the board. 114 off the bat is some legit pop. Approach may be lacking, but the K rate isn't scary. He's a super exciting athlete but the lack of any kind of approach concerns me. I'd probably rather have him than Honeycutt but I'm out on both at 12, IMO.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 21, 2024 16:03:58 GMT -5
White Sox fall to 3-18. Position players at -1.6 WAR as a whole, led by Benintendi's -.8 (before today's 0-4). Pitchers are at 0.2. This team might be an all-timer. Bummer that the Sox don’t catch them soon
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 22:16:14 GMT -5
Kavadas is a left-handed Dalbec at best. He is a strikeout machine. Major league pitching would eat him alive. Just like AA and AAA pitching was going to, right? He had a 37.5%/33.2% K% between AA/AAA last year and he has all of 50 PA’s this season, I’d say it’s been more concerning than great so far as far as projection goes.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 21:41:14 GMT -5
It’s still early but man, Roman is striking out a LOT
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 18:37:36 GMT -5
Looking at FA 1B, after Belt it gets rough…. I think the best bet after him would honestly be doing something fairly crazy like seeing if Longoria could play first
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 18:34:46 GMT -5
If Casas is down for a few days who’s next up? Kavadas? Is Brandon Belt hurt? If it’s going to be a longer injury, I’d give him a call (I have to assume I’m missing something here)
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 18:20:58 GMT -5
Oh for sure but at a certain point the power and insane walk rates play or give the urge to see if it can play Where do you put him on this team? Even if the power is fun he shouldn’t be taking reps from Casas and he’s going to strike out too much to carry a full time DH role. In my eyes his best case scenario to deliver value for the Sox is, sorta similar to Hickey, you get a second division team who is willing to see what it could look like and he’s the second or third piece of a trade package if the Sox decide to go buying at the deadline. I’ll take the blame for Casas’ injury with this one
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 18:17:35 GMT -5
The “front office isn’t trying to win” Red Sox are an inning or so away from having a better record than the Dodgers. Early I know, and I wouldn’t bet on that continuing by any means, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make anyway. Im not sure exactly the point here. The fact that the team clearly does have potential to be quite good makes it even more frustrating that they didnt/arent spend/spending on depth pieces and its already cost the team a few games. Add: not sure if thats a front office or a John Henry issue though 1. Having depth is an extremely great thing to say you wish you had on paper or in hindsight, but the point that people fail to acknowledge is that your ability to sign quality players is limited if they don’t have a spot to play. There is certainly a time period post-Giolito in which it seems they could have acquired another starter but then you’re toying with one of Whitlock or Houck’s roles pretty late in the game. Same thing goes on offense, JD Davis or someone like that would’ve been nice to have but where do you put him and how do you convince him that’s better than a place he can play consistently? If you want to be disappointed that they didn’t pursue Montgomery or spend right up to the tax like that’s certainly fine but my specific irritation is that people take that and instantly treat it as if the team is tanking. So my point is more so about the lack of nuance in the arguments from those folks than me trying to say that this team was perfectly constructed. It’s not, but very few teams ever are and there are typically reasons for that. It’s not a video game where you can stock up on players however you want, the reality is that more often than not the players that are willing to take depth roles just aren’t going to be great. That’s why they’re in a position of taking depth roles. I guess another way of saying it is there’s a difference between not maximizing every resource, which you can fairly argue the Red Sox failed to do and that’s a reasonable source of some frustration, and actively not trying to win, which is the time of crybaby hyper-reaction that I (and I’m sure others) get tired of seeing as constantly as I do.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 17:55:44 GMT -5
The “front office isn’t trying to win” Red Sox are an inning or so away from having a better record than the Dodgers.
Early I know, and I wouldn’t bet on that continuing by any means, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make anyway.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 17:18:36 GMT -5
Offensive substation in the 1st inning?! I'm surely missing something. "Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Karson Simas replaces Kristian Campbell." Campbell hasn’t played in a few days, was probably just a correction
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 16:49:18 GMT -5
The thing that makes these injuries so frustrating is that this is very obviously a good team. I’m just not sure how high the ceiling is once we get to heavier division play, but at full strength or even with just a reasonable amount of luck the bones of a good and even a possible playoff team are pretty apparent.
Also, they’d win the AL Central, but nothing you can do about that.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 20, 2024 8:57:54 GMT -5
You should look up Dunn’s minor league stats and the ages he played. It’s a lot easier to be comped to Adam Dunn than to be Adam Dunn. Oh for sure but at a certain point the power and insane walk rates play or give the urge to see if it can play Where do you put him on this team? Even if the power is fun he shouldn’t be taking reps from Casas and he’s going to strike out too much to carry a full time DH role. In my eyes his best case scenario to deliver value for the Sox is, sorta similar to Hickey, you get a second division team who is willing to see what it could look like and he’s the second or third piece of a trade package if the Sox decide to go buying at the deadline.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 18, 2024 12:06:54 GMT -5
Penrod through 4 innings: 0H 0ER 2BB 4K - 9 whiffs on 57 pitches Through 5 innings: 0H 0ER 2BB 6K - 14 whiffs on 70 pitches man how cool of a story would it be if he turned out to be a legit guy. I’m not 100% up to speed on his story. Was he always throwing with this kind of velocity and the other stuff just wasn’t there, or is the velocity a new development?
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 18, 2024 11:13:06 GMT -5
Can someone who is smarter than me from a baseball scouting perspective explain why having a short arm action is seen as a negative and a sign of relief risk? This is specifically in reference to Yesavage's writeup.
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Apr 18, 2024 8:50:48 GMT -5
"This draft is really atrocious after the top tier or two — there’s a very strong group of eight college players who should be the first eight picks in some order, then a decent second tier of guys from the college and high school ranks that maybe gets us to about pick 20, and then the position player group and the college pitchers just kind of fall apart. There are certainly interesting players beyond that, and if you are willing to swim in the high school pitching pond there are plenty of those guys to sign, but this year’s draft is going to have a lot of first rounders who wouldn’t go nearly that high in a typical draft." I'm a broken record with this, but I definitely think if you had to choose an optimal strategy in a vacuum it would be whatever college player in that tier you feel will go underslot and then high school arm in the second.
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